The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 19, 1892 Page: 8 of 16
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SOUTHERN MERCURY.
Hay 19,1892
OFFICIAL JOURNAL.
Texas Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union
N. R. P. A.
Published Every Thursday by the
FARMERS STATE ALLIANCE PUB. CO.
MIL. TON PARK,
Managing Editor, and General Manager.
Office: Second floor Alliance Exchange Build-
ing. Entrance: 168 Wood Street
entered at the postoffloe, Dallas, Texas, as
aeoond-dass mall matter.
FARMERS ALLIANCE PLATFORM.
[Adopted at'Ooala, Fla., Dec., 1890.]
1. We demand the abolition of national
banks; we demand tbat the government shall
establish sub-treasuries or depositories in the
sevoral stales which shall issue money direct
to the people at a low rate of tax, not to ex-
ceed 2 per cent per annum, on non-perishable
of the circulating medium be speedily increas
ed to not less than $50 per capita.
2. We demand that congress shall pass such
laws as will effectually prevent the dealing in
futures of all agricultural and mechanical pro-
ductions; preserving a stringent system of pro-
cedure in trial suoh that will securc the
prompt oonviction and imposing such penal-
ties as shall secure the mostperfectcoinpiiance
with the law.
3. We condemn the silver bill recently pass-
ed by congress, and demand in lieu thereof
the free and unlimited coinage of silver
4. We demand the passage of laws prohibit-
ing alien ownership of land, and that congrcss
take prompt action to devise some plan to ob-
tain all lands now owned by aliens and foreign
syndicates, and that all lands now held by rail-
roads and other corporations in exoess of such
as are actually used and needed by them bo ro-
olaimed by the government and hold for ac-
tual settlers only.
5. Believe in the doctrine of "equal rights
to all and special privileges to none," we do-
mand that our nations I legislation shall bo so
framed In the future as not to build up one
industry at the expense of another. Wo fur-
ther demand a removal of tho existing heavy
tariff tax from the necessities of Ufe that the
poor of our land must have. We further de-
mand a Just and equitable system of graduated
tax on inoomes. We believe that the money
of the oountry should bo kept as much as pos-
sible in the hands of tho people, and hence we
demand that all national and state revenues
shall be limited to the neoossary expenses of
the government economically and honestly
administered.
6. We demand the most rigid, honest and
just state and national governmental control
and supervision of the means of public com-
munication and transportation, and if this
control and supervision does not reinovo the
abuse now existing, we demand the govern-
ment ownership or suoh means of communi-
cating and transportion.
7. We demand that tho congress of the
United States submit an amendment to the
The industrial element in the
South, would be glad to swap a
Northeastern democrat for
Northwestern republican.
If any one says that the force
bill will become a law if the dem
ocratic party is defeated, ask him
who defeated that very bill in
1890.
Finley and Mr.Hogg are sweet
on the. "skunks" now. They need
votes. If Mr. Hogg is elected he
will slap them in the face as he did
at Corsicana.
One pound of cotton will make
from 3 to 5 yards of cloth. Yet
the poor manufacturer complains
because he has to sell it at 3
cents per yard.
Raw cotton 5 cts. per pound!
Manufactured cotton 25 cts. per
pound! Good profit, eh? Yes,
but the middlemen get it all. The
producer is not in it.
Mb. Hogg says the Alliance is
"too big for its breeches,"yet he has
the monumental cheek to ask Al-
liancemen to vote for him. He
wants another chance to slap the
order in the face.
constitution providing for the election of
United States senators by direct vote of tho
people of eaoh state.
Hash is homogenous.
Good intentions, unexecuted, are
useless.
The hope of reform is confined
to the independent voters.
The man most dreaded by the
bloody shirt demagogue is the in-
dependent voter.
Keep away from the Finley-
Hogg primaries and preserve your
independence!
Hogg? No! Clark? No! Vote
only for the man who stands on
the St. Louis platform!
Evert member, except nine, of
the legislature ot Louisiana just
convened, is "some sort" of a dem-
ocrat. ^
The South and West occupy
the same position toward the
Northeast, that Ireland does to
Democratic bosses in the South
inveigh against the increasing pen-
sions, while Voorhees and his con-
feres go on increasing it, and make
just enough Southern democrats
vote for it to pass any bill they
desire.
The democratic bosses tried
twenty years to beat John J. In-
gals, of Kansas, and could not do
it. The Farmers Alliance did it in
two years, and now these same
democratic bosses are mad with the
Alliance. Why?
Gov Hogg appointed the mani-
festo signers as delegates to the
farmers congress held at Kansas
City in April 1891 and ignored
every loyal member of the order
during his entire [administration.
Why?
Reformers, keep away from
the Finley-Hogg primaries. If
you go into them you will tie your
hands and be compelled to vote
for the machine ticket, state and
national. Stay away and preserve
your independence.
Do you see any consistency in
Alliancemen voting for the adop-
tion of the St. Louis platform, and
then vote for a man or party that
does not stand on that platform?
Don't let your personal attachment
lead you to violate your princi-
ples! No true reformer will be
found connected in any way with
the "machine" primaries.
Finley kicked all the loyal Alii
ancemen out of the Democratic
party, calling them "skunks."
Remember this?
The South and the Northwest
have 228 members in the lower
house of congress, and if the peo-
ple of those sections will, they can
control the next congress in spite
of the united efforts of the North-
east. The salvation of this coun-
try depends upon them doing it.
We are tempted to use a slang
phrase and cry, "Rats!" The people
ot Texas are very much in earnest
about this railway commission,
and they are not much inclined to
leave their bantling to the tender
nursing of even James Stephen
Hogg.
What difference does it make
to the South and W est, whether
the Northeastern democrats or
Northwestern republicans rule the
United States? The Mercury
will give any person a free sub-
scription for a year, who will show
the difference by precedents or
facts, since the war.
While Ingalls and his conferees
ruled Kansas, an ex-confederate
soldier could not vote in that state.
As soon as Alliancemen got con
trol of the legislature they re-
pealed the law; yet the democratic
bosses ajl over the South swear
that the Alliance is a republican
trick to destroy the democratic
party.
All nations that have risen to
prominence, have done so by in-
dustry and virtue; and those that
have gone down, have fallen
through luxury, indolence and
vice. This is true of the United
States—vice, indolence and dis-
honor is on the increase. A change
must come, a reversion of existing
conditions, or all is lost.
Will you go into an organiza-
tion and pledge yourself to sup-
port the platform it may pro-
mulgate when you[cannot possibly
know what principles it will en-
body? The common voter has no
more voice in formulating the plat-
forms of the two old parties than
they have in ^convening the parli-
aimcnt of England.
Politics "makes strange bed
fellows;" and it seems that getting
into the penitentiary in Mississip-
pi reverses the former order of
things. The Okolona (Miss.) Mes-
senger says: "Tis a nice convict
system, that makes a trusty out of
a life negro convict, and permits
such a brute to strap white prison-
ers confined fortrival offenses."This
is modern democracy in Mississip-
pi! What next?
The methods of the machine
leaders remindd us of King Cyax-
ares. He gave a feast
to which he invited all the
officers of the Scythian invaders,
and in the midst of their mirth his
guards fell upon them and mur-
dered them. The Democratic
machine leaders always have mon-
ey enough to invite you in to
drink, and when you are in liquor
exact a promise to go into the
primaries and support them, thus
tying your hands. They murder
you politically with whisky and
persuasion.
An old farmer wanted to try a
horse he was on the eve of trading
for. He told his son to stand in
the fence corner, and say booh! as
he came by. The result was, the
horse ran away, tore up the buggy,
and came near killing theold man
When the old man got himself in
shape, he came back and thrashed
the boy. "Did you not tell me to
say 'booh!' when you drove^by, fa-
ther?" "Yes!" said the old man,
"but I didn't tell you to say it so
darned loud!" This is the fix Gov.
Hogg has gotten into. He told
Finley to say "booh!" to the Al-
liance, and Finley has said it too
loud. The results are patent.
The historian tells us that na-
tional prosperity may be consider-
ed from two points. 1. "When a
nation, considered as a body, is
powerful, respected, rich, and emi-
nent in the view of surounding
nations^or 2. When a nation is in
such a state, that the individuals,
who compose it, are prosperous,
happy, and secure." In our sys-
tem of government, the second
description once applied to this
country, but we have retrograded
andchanged to the first class. The
first half of the way to disolution.
Will the people yet turn to princi-
ple and save the goverment?
The two "machines" in Texas
are working harmoniously to-
gether. The republicans know
that they can not elect a single
congressman or state officer, but
they are nominating, for no other
purpose, except to furnish the dem-
ocratic "machine whipper's in" ^
new cracker for their traditional
whips. There is no difference in
what the two "machines" really
want or intend. In Texas, the re-
publicans keep up a "show" to help
the democrats keep their voters in
line; and in Kansas, the demociats
keep up a "show" to help the
republicans keep their voters in
line. Pay no attention! Inde-
pendent action is our only salva-
tion!
A
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Park, Milton. The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 19, 1892, newspaper, May 19, 1892; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth185465/m1/8/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .